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Other native dance/music forms than Flamenco to watch in Madrid and surroundings

Hello all,
We are heading to Madrid, Segovia, Pedraza, Cuenca and Salamanca in April. we are planning to see a flamenco show in madrid, we already attended one 6 years ago in seville which was great.
While we love and appreciate flamenco very much, I know by now that Flamenco is not the only spanish art/dance there is and that each area has its form of dance and music. I would love to know more about this.

In the province of Salamanca you do have the "Charrada", which you can see performed in regional costume in the town of Ciudad Rodrigo during the Festival de la Charrada on Easter Saturday (April 11) at 5 pm in the town hall square. There will also be "dulzaineros" who will play a double reed oboe like instrument, the dulzaina (similar to a Breton bombarde) during this annual folkloric festival.

On another note, I remember that your dates may coincide with Holy Week, if so, you'll have as your evening's entertainment or better said, very moving spectacle, the nightly Holy Week religious processions, which in Salamanca have been declared of National Tourist Merit. These occur in Salamanca every day from the Friday before Palm Sunday (April 3) until Easter Sunday with the fever pitch reached on the evening of Holy Thursday into Good Friday.

In Cuenca the Holy Week processions are renowned throughout the country and have been declared of International Tourist Merit.http://tinyurl.com/9f3hqa

And Madrid has its own dance, the chotis, but you'll see it danced in Old Madrid in May during the Fiesta de San Isidro (Madrid's patron saint). You can read a bit about it here:www.whatmadrid.com/san-isidro.html

Brava Maribel you have covered it well!. We MUST meet someday I tell you... a woman after my own heart. Now you have me awake again.

Lol it is so great that you are interested. The Jotas of the various regions (Aragon, Zaragaoza, etc) can be the best workout on the planet. Forget about the eliptical try this
...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKVYol-OEYE

In addition to the dances of each region that Maribel refers to, there are many "schools" or types of dance in Spain from classical to modern to experimental to fusion with other cultures such as India & the middle east.

There are a great many fantastic Spanish composers for you to explore as Maribel will tell you (we share some favorites) As well some of the most famous "Spanish" music is not even written by Spaniards, Take Bizet's Carmen or Rimsy Korsikof's Capricho Español.

lol,
It's too bad that the dates for your trip don't fall between March 5-15. The National Ballet of Spain is performing "escuela bolera" in Madrid at the Teatro de la Zarzuela!
See one of their performances is indeed a very special treat!http://balletnacional.mcu.es

I second that one Lol if you have the chance to see them on tour sometime at home don't miss it.

Maribel I wanted to add the pasodoble as a dance style however since the popularity of Dancing with the Stars you can't find a real pasodoble on you tube...I hear in Finland at lunchtime they are into it.

Sara Bara's Carmen at Teatro Lope de Vega in Madrid from February 13, 2009.
A show unconstrained by stereotypes because the artist does not wish to tell the famous story of the gypsy cigar-maker, preferring instead, in her own words, “to develop the character through a certain poetic abstraction, which preserves the mystery and leaves the audience’s imagination to run its own course”.

The Chotis (formerly Schotis) is a traditional music and dance, which originated in Scotland, came to Madrid in 1850 -- the word Chotis comes from the German word Schottisch --. It gradually became a symbol of Madrid and it was largely danced in the working class neighbourhoods and now is considered the most typical dance of the city. It is danced in all the traditional festivals, especially during San Isidro’s Day. There is also in Madrid a restaurant called "El Schotis" at calle Cava Baja. The bar in the front of the restaurant, from where you can eat tapas, disguises the restaurant in the back, where you will find traditional Castilian fare which includes roast lamb, steaks, hake ‘Cocido’ (stew made with chickpeas, chorizo and meat) and home-made desserts.

Hello again,
Thanks very much for the links, it's so great of you to share this.
Revulgo, do you how long is Carmen by Sara B. going to last in Madrid?
I try to search the net for this info but found only tha date you mentioned. I think Maribel will also be interested in this since we were trying to find out Sara's schedule of performances in 2009 to no avail. This is great, thanks.

Hello,
Amsdon, Rvulgo, and MAribel
Here it is
"World famous flamenco dancer and coreographer will be offering a unique show from the 13th of February to the 29 of March.
Venue(s) : Teatro Lope De Vega
Genre : Flamenco"
You can check it out here and apparently buy tickets too.

To Revulgo, for giving us the heads up about her show at the Lope de Vega
To amsdon, for giving the link to the El Corte Ingles ticket sales
To lol, for giving the end date in March, which fits in perfectly for us.

amsdon,
thanks for sharing that-lol, you see why we love her dancing so much.
When we saw her perform in Paris, she dedicated the performance to her mother, and her beautiful and elegant mother came on stage to dance a solo and then dance with her daughter. It brought the house down!

You know Ned you have mentioned Florida Park before so I looked on YOU Tube & the dancers are good.
I had written it off because of the tourist bus thing. It says it has DJ / dancing I am looking for somewhere my friends could go dancing (they are over 50 and some over 60. Understanding this is not a tablao per se, which we will see in addition to this (at least I will) I love many types of dance so I think it would be fun to add to the list.

Tell me Ned & Maribel....how is the food though?????

It can't possible be as bad as that malamuerte place on Arco de Cuchilleros...

Hi amsdon,
I haven't been to Florida Park since I went with my mother in the 70s!!! I think of it as a nostalgic kind of place from the época del franquismo. I haven't a clue about the quality of the food, but I personally wouldn't dine there. But I wouldn't dine at Corral de la Morería either because I believe firmly that passionate flamenco and dinner don't mix. -I'd tell your friends to go for the orchestra and drinks (perfect place for those pasodobles).

Hi all,
I am so happy to be able to help, even if it's in a small way, especially Maribel and Amsdon who have been so helpful and so patient.

Maribel, I am so glad you were able to get the tickets. I hope you enjoy the show. I will do my best to move things around in order to be able to catch Sara Baras performance in Madrid.
Ned, I will also look into Florida Park performances, thanks for the suggestion.